Students get guided tour, courtesy Southerland // VIDEO

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, second from left, stops to greet visitors from Holy Nativity,guests of Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Panama City, center in yellow tie, in Statuary Hall on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday. Southerland led the group on a tour because of the federal government shutdown.

J. Scott Applewhite | The Associated Press

By JACQUELINE BOSTICK | The News Herald

Published: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 at 06:12 PM.

PANAMA CITY — Acolytes from a local church may have benefitted as a result of a federal rule that prevents congressional staff from leading tours at the Capitol during the government shutdown.

U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Panama City, guided Holy Nativity’s acolyte group to tourist attractions at the Capitol Friday. The group was one of many that visited the Capitol last weekend for the 34th annual National Acolyte Festival at the Washington National Cathedral.

“He was very generous with his time,” said Mike Harding, acolyte director at Holy Nativity Episcopal Church. “It’s very unusual to get that amount of time with a member of Congress.”

Acolytes assist clergy in alter duties.

Holy Nativity acolyte Wesley McClellan, 16, served as a thurifer — burning incense bearer — at the festival service. He said he was “blown away” by the cathedral and surprised to have met Southerland and Speaker of the House John Boehner at the Capitol.

“We’re actually getting a tour by Mr. Southerland,” was his first thought when he learned about the tour, he said. “It was pretty cool. He didn’t treat us as if he was above us. He treated us as if we were all friends and family.”

A rule at the House of Representatives prohibits staff from leading tours during the shutdown, officials from Southerland’s office wrote in an email Tuesday. Southerland’s office remains open and staffed during the shutdown.

PANAMA CITY — Acolytes from a local church may have benefitted as a result of a federal rule that prevents congressional staff from leading tours at the Capitol during the government shutdown.

U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Panama City, guided Holy Nativity’s acolyte group to tourist attractions at the Capitol Friday. The group was one of many that visited the Capitol last weekend for the 34th annual National Acolyte Festival at the Washington National Cathedral.

“He was very generous with his time,” said Mike Harding, acolyte director at Holy Nativity Episcopal Church. “It’s very unusual to get that amount of time with a member of Congress.”

Acolytes assist clergy in alter duties.

Holy Nativity acolyte Wesley McClellan, 16, served as a thurifer — burning incense bearer — at the festival service. He said he was “blown away” by the cathedral and surprised to have met Southerland and Speaker of the House John Boehner at the Capitol.

“We’re actually getting a tour by Mr. Southerland,” was his first thought when he learned about the tour, he said. “It was pretty cool. He didn’t treat us as if he was above us. He treated us as if we were all friends and family.”

A rule at the House of Representatives prohibits staff from leading tours during the shutdown, officials from Southerland’s office wrote in an email Tuesday. Southerland’s office remains open and staffed during the shutdown.

Although tours typically last 45 minutes, the group spent nearly three hours touring with the congressman.

Rep. Southerland granted the group access to sites, such as Statuary Hall and Speaker’s Balcony. Group members do not believe they would have had access to those areas without the authority of a congressman.

“In that regard, the government shutdown worked in our favor,” Harding said.

Harding said his church had been planning the trip to the acolyte festival for the past five years. Conflicting schedules prevented the trip in past years. This year school and festival schedules “aligned conveniently.”

Now, “the acolytes have a broader understanding of what it is they do every Sunday at our local church,” Harding said. “They see even at the large cathedrals, what they do is very similar to what cathedral acolytes do.”

The Washington Cathedral is the sixth largest cathedral in the world and the second largest in the nation. The annual festival featured a morning service of rededication and Holy Eucharist, followed by a host of workshops.

“Same service, same liturgy. That is something that was reaffirmed with the acolytes while they were there,” he added.

McClellan said he learned at the festival that the national cathedral “is everybody’s church.”

“The cathedral was kind of like seeing Hogsworth in real life,” he said, referring to the fictional school of magic from the Harry Potter series of novels. “It was huge.”